Blinken begins Africa tour in Cape Verde, touting the US as a key security and economic partner

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, shakes hands with Cape Verde Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva, at the Government Palace in Praia, Cape Verde, Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool Photo via AP)

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, center, Prime Minister of Ivory Coast Robert Beugre Mambe, 2nd right, and President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Patrice Motsepe, 2nd left, watch the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) 2024 group A soccer match between Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Ebimpe, Abidjan Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool Photo via AP)

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, center, receives a football jersey with his name on from Prime Minister of Ivory Coast Robert Beugre Mambe, second right, as President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Patrice Motsepe, left, looks on, as they attend the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) 2024 group A soccer match between Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Ebimpe, Abidjan Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool Photo via AP)

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, center, speaks to US Ambassador to Ivory Coast Jessica Davis Ba, second right, Vice President of Ivory Coast Tiemoko Meyliet Kone, right, and Prime Minister of Ivory Coast Robert Beugre Mambe, left, following the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) 2024 group A soccer match between Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Ebimpe, Abidjan Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool Photo via AP)

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Cape Verde Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva, speaks, during a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, at the Government Palace in Praia, Cape Verde, Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool Photo via AP)

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, speaks to US Ambassador to Ivory Coast Jessica Davis Ba, center, and Vice President of Ivory Coast Tiemoko Meyliet Kone following the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) 2024 group A soccer match between Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Ebimpe, Abidjan Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool Photo via AP)

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President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Patrice Motsepe, left, speaks to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken as he arrives to attend the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) 2024 group A soccer match between Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Ebimpe, Abidjan Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool Photo via AP)

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, 2nd right, Prime Minister of Ivory Coast Robert Beugre Mambe, right, and President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Patrice Motsepe, 4th right, watch the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) 2024 group A soccer match between Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Ebimpe, Abidjan Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool Photo via AP)

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, centre, walks at the Porto da Praia Pier 1 in Praia, Cape Verde, Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool Photo via AP)

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, and Cabo Verde Foreign Minister Luis Filipe Tavares shake hands before departing at the Nelson Mandela Praia International Airport in Praia, Cape Verde, Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool Photo via AP)

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US Ambassador to Ivory Coast Jessica Davis Ba, left, welcomes US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny International Airport in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool Photo via AP)

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Patrice Motsepe, right, attend the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) 2024 group A soccer match between Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Ebimpe, Abidjan Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool Photo via AP)

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Ivory Coast’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Kacou Houadja Leon Adom, second from right, welcomes US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny International Airport in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool Photo via AP)

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, speaks to Cape Verde Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva, during a meeting at the Government Palace in Praia, Cape Verde, Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool Photo via AP)

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a meeting with Cape Verde Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva, at the Government Palace in Praia, Cape Verde, Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool Photo via AP)

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, poses for a photo with Cape Verde Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva, at the Government Palace in Praia, Cape Verde, Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool Photo via AP)

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, arrives for a meeting with Cape Verde Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva, left, at the Government Palace in Praia, Cape Verde, Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool Photo via AP)

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right sits opposite Cape Verde Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva, during a meeting at the Government Palace in Praia, Cape Verde, Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool Photo via AP)

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny International Airport in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool Photo via AP)

By CHINEDU ASADU

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken began a tour of four African countries on Monday, meeting with the leaders of Cape Verde and Ivory Coast and touting America as the continent’s key economic and security ally at times of regional and international crises.

Blinken is visiting Nigeria and Angola next. The tour — which comes as deadly crises and rampant coups threaten the continent’s stability — focuses on trade, security, and democracy promotion.

In Cape Verde’s capital, Praia, he met with Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva and said the U.S. is committed “to deepening, strengthening, broadening” its partnerships with Africa whose young population of 1.3 billion is set to double by 2050 and make up a quarter of the world’s inhabitants.

Analysts say Africa seems to have been pushed to the back burner under President Joe Biden as his administration is increasingly consumed by other international issues such as the fighting in Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas war, as well as its rivalry with China. Biden also failed to visit Africa last year as he promised.

“As President Biden has said, we are all in when it comes to Africa,” Blinken told the Cape Verdean leader. “We see Africa as an essential, critical, central part of our future. This trip … really does focus on President Biden’s commitment and conviction that the United States and Africa are joined in partnership for the future,” he added.

Silva described Cape Verde as “a longstanding and consistent partner” of the U.S. and said such a visit shows “the Biden administration’s genuine interest in win-win partnerships with Africa.”

“We would like to strengthen our partnership with the U.S. in maritime security and cyber security from a regional, global perspective,” said Silva.

Also Monday, Blinken flew to the Ivory Coast where he met President Alassane Ouattara and senior government officials. They discussed “shared priorities of strengthening democracy, expanding trade and improving local and regional security,” the U.S. State Department said in a statement.

He also attended a soccer match between Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast, part of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations tournament.

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